PEORIA, Ariz.  Cameron Maybin is off to a somewhat uneventful start this spring. But it is not insignificant.

Not for Maybin. Not after nearly eight months of waiting and waiting to have his knee and wrist just right.

“It felt good; it really did,” Maybin said Thursday after playing his first game since walking off the field in Colorado last June with a tear in his posterior cruciate ligament. “Running fly balls down. First to third. Being in the box battling. That’s the feeling I missed. It felt really good to be out there.”

Officially, Maybin went hitless in two at-bats in the Padres’ 7-1 loss to the Mariners in their Cactus League opener.

But he drew a third-inning walk, stepped on the gas a bit to move from first to third on Alexi Amarista’s single to center and even turned on a pitch in the fifth inning that skipped just foul before striking out looking. In the field, he stretched his legs chasing down a couple balls in the gap.

After appearing in just 14 games last year with a knee injury and persisting wrist issues that ultimately required season-ending surgery, any step was a step in the right direction.

“I’m not putting too much emphasis on any one thing, but so far, so good,” Maybin said. “I think every day I’m in the lineup will be a good thing for me. I need to get those at-bats, get those plate appearances again and find that timing.

“It’s been seven or eight months since I’ve seen a live pitch. It’ll come. It’ll come with time and reps.”

Friday's Game

Hang another star

A moment of silence was for Jerry Coleman before Thursday’s Cactus League opener at the Peoria Sports Complex, where the Padres’ Hall of Fame broadcaster spent many springs prepping for the season.

Stadium officials also prepared a pregame video tribute in addition to placing a “JC” star outside the Padres’ broadcast booth, where Bob Scanlan and newcomer Jesse Agler called the first game of the spring.

Before the game, Scanlan noted the void left around the complex this spring.

“Some of the best times I had with him last year weren’t necessarily during the broadcast,” Scanlan said. “It was the before and after, the opportunities I had to spend time together in the car driving to various spring training sites. Just talking baseball, his experiences and all the amazing aspects of his life.

“It was real special then. I’m even more grateful for it now.”

Baby steps

Don’t look for Yasmani Grandal to step behind the plate any time soon.

Although the Padres catcher continues to take strides toward a hastened return from last year’s season-ending knee injury, his side-to-side blocking and stamina have not progressed enough to catch a Cactus League game in the immediate future. More than likely, Grandal said he’d appear in a game as a hitter well ahead of catching his first two-inning stint.

The progression from there would gradually increase from there, with catching back-to-back, nine-inning games a bench mark that will likely have to be met before the Padres can consider letting him open the season on the active roster.

“We don’t want to start the season and then in two months get hurt,” Grandal said. “When we go, we’re going to go all the way.”

Notable

LHP Eric Stults allowed three runs on a walk and three hits in two innings of work. He threw mostly fastballs and changeups in the 29-pitch outing. “My command wasn’t the best … but overall physically I felt good, and that’s what you want to take away,” he said.

Tickets for the Padres’ exhibition games against the Cleveland Indians at USD (March 28-29) will go on sale Friday. Contact the USD ticket office at (619) 260-7550 for further information.